Aquaman #3

"THE DROWNING," Chapter Three: In issue #3, Aquaman's mission of peace is dealt a devastating blow when Atlantean terrorists attack the surface world in retribution for Black Manta's deadly assault on their embassy.

As good as the first 2 issues have been, Aquaman #3 has gotten even better. The choice to develop the political drama has enable the book to go beyond the basic comic and comment on the world in which we live. Read Full Review

That said, he still maintains to be a light hearted character with humour and optimism. And this seems to be a running theme with all of DC Comics Rebirth titles at the moment. They're all consistently trying to fit in and reignite the legacy of heroes that was essentially lost during The New 52. Read Full Review

It's been a few months now since the Rebirth kicked in, and many of the titles have misfired. The potential of a new, hopeful future for DC has looked increasingly bleak. They say that the best leaders lead by example, and Aquaman, both as a character and a series, is doing that. He may be the unlikeliest of flagship heroes, but Aquaman continues to lead the way with its bright, optimistic tone. Read Full Review

Aquaman hasnt had an off issue yet. Even with the shift from the action-oriented feel, it remains a reliable DC Rebirth title. At the midway point of The Drowning Circle, the storyline hasnt lost any steam. Read Full Review

Aquaman continues to be a standout amongst the Rebirth books, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Great characterization, a tether to real world issues, and a healthy dose of self-aware humor all make Aquaman a must have for your pull list. Read Full Review

If you dig the idea of Aquaman as the head of state and political aspects of the character, this is a fresh and fun take on that. I'm digging it and want to see where Abnett takes it. We just need more consistent art. Read Full Review

Ultimately this issue was fairly underwhelming. Several things are set up for future issues, but on its own, this issue does very little to prove itself as more than a stop gap between plot points. The bit of story that we get is good, and the art is serviceable, but it's hard to really recommend this issue other than to people who would have bought it for the ongoing story anyway. While not a bad issue, it certainly does not set itself out as anything other than moving some plot points along, and definitely won't win over any new readers. I had previously thought that the plot may have been moving slowly because of the focus on set up and fight scenes in the first two issues, but it seems like this may be an ongoing issue with the series. Read Full Review

These issues aside, Abnetts underlying storyline – Arthur trying to advance Atlantis onto the world political stage – has some real legs, so it's doubly disappointing to see this latest issue derailed by some frankly lacklustre artwork. While its certainly not enough to write off a series that has undoubtedly impressed during the early months of DCs Rebirth, it does however serve as a disappointing stumble for what was shaping up to be an impressive new story. Read Full Review

There's plenty of action with Black Manta and his terrorists. The only drawback? Aquaman himself doesn't do jack this entire issue, a point driven painfully home by the issue's final page. Read Full Review

An uneven story and mediocre artwork result in a middle-of-the-road score. I really hope this book gets going, because here at the third issue I feel like we've gotten almost nowhere. There's a scene with Black Manta that's pretty cool, so there's some potential for a good story here. But the "fish out of water" shtick is beyond stale at this point. Read Full Review

Dan Abnett's Aquaman is the worst DC book at the moment. While other writers embraced the idea of giving their characters a rebirth, Dan Abnett is perfectly fine with sticking with the same old. Read Full Review

When Abnett digs into the bureaucracy, it feels real, like a scene you might see in House of Cards but it's not terribly interesting and that's because we know so more information than the characters do. Read Full Review

Aquaman continues to be one of my favorite titles of Rebirth so far. The story moves along at a great pace. This issue takes you so far with so little. Both the hero and villains story is progressed and I think the conflict that is coming at the end of this arc will be huge because the build up has been awesome.

The next stage of the first story is all about moving the pieces on the board, and it does a good job of that. Not action-packed, but after last issue's giant throw-down, this felt like a good thing. A solid issue of a very entertaining series.

Another above-average issue from Abnett. The art isn't as medicore as before, but an A-list title for a DC linchpin character needs a better artist. The foreign-relations angle is explored to a bigger extent than Abnett has done before. There's potential for some intelligent, if not too subtle, political espionage. The Atlantis-U.S diplomacy theme could lend itself to some excellent commentary, but it hasn't really shown itself yet. There's more content than the last issue, but there's still a lot more Abnett could be doing.